General step-by-step guide to doing a reverse lay-up

• Dribble past your defender with dribbling skills and moves.

• Drive towards the baseline with speed

• pick up the dribble when you are 2 steps from the other side of the rim

• Take the first step, head fake on the normal side, take another half step

• elevate towards the reverse side of the rim

• Fully extend your arm towards the reverse side of the backboard

• Take any impact from your opponent and recover

• Flick your wrist upward and add a spin to the ball so that it spins off the backboard into the hoop

By setting picks for point guards effectively, the offense can easily create the reverse situation. In this case, the defense almost always have help defense on the basketball player going for a reverse. Should this happen, the ball carrier can dish the basketball to the teammate that is left unguarded by the help-defending player. Hence the reverse-dish is a great penetration-assist move.

How to do a reverse lay-up?

What is a reverse lay-up?

Reverse lay-up, or simply the reverse, is a lay-up using the backboard and done with your back facing the basketball hoop and often your defender after you blow by him.

What does it take to make a good reverse lay-up

To be able to use the reverse lay-up. You should have decent dribbling skills that enables you to dribble pass your opponents. Thus, ball-handling skills is very important in doing a successful reverse lay-up. Also, the reverse typically apply a spin to the basketball so that it bounces off the backboard at an angle into the basketball hoop. In this case, you will need flexible wrists that are accustomed to rotational movements. Strong arms will also help because chances are your defenders will bump into your arm while striving to defend against your reverse. The most critical attribute that a basketball player must have in order to do a reverse is a keen sense of his position in relation to the basketball hoop because when you are going up in a reverse lay-up, you will be unable to look at the rim with your back facing it

When do I use a reverse lay-up

First of all, you will need some decent basketball dribbling skills and nifty ball-handling moves that will get past your defender and you close to the baseline. When you are close to the baseline and you see a clear lane from your spot towards the immediate other side of the rim, that is when you should use the reverse lay-up. Hence, you should always keep an eye out for opportunities to perform a basketball reverse lay-up when you are speedier than your defender.

On a larger scale, the reverse should be used when the frontal defense is too intense for direct penetration into the paint.

It is also very effective to do a head fake on your side to fake a normal lay up while you proceed to your reverse side for a reverse lay-up. If your defender buys your head fake, then you should definitely go for a reverse. If he doesn't buy the head fake, that is fine too. Just leap on the reverse side, take the impact from the defender's challenge and lays it in afterwards.

Shooting a Three Pointer

If you tell a grade three that shooting within the arc is 2 points while beyond the arc is 3 points and ask him which shot he will take. He will tell you to shoot the three 99.9% of the time. I used to agree with these grade threes too because the three point arc is not as far as it seems. The threes seem to be a blessing when it comes to scoring as sinking 2 beyond the arc yields the same points as sinking 3 within it. But consider these stats:

• The highest ever 3pts % in the NBA is roughly 50%, while high field goal % can go up to 65-70%.
• Usually, the portion of points from threes accounts for only around 30% of the total points per game.

Hence it is not that easy at all to make those three fingers of the referee swing downward.

From those stats you may ask, why aren't the threes a main source of scoring in the NBA if threes are good?

I must clarify that, shooting a three is indeed much more difficult. First, no matter how close you think the three point arc is from the basketball hoop, what makes three points more difficult is still, the distance from the hoop. The international distance for three points is 20 feet 6 inches. It goes without saing that you should never try to go for a bank shot. The distance is too far and will often results in a hard bounce off the backboard. For those physics people, the distance traveled by the basketball will increase the force of the ball, this means that whenever a three point shot touches the rim, it will almost never bounce inside the basketball hoop.

The three point in basketball shooting is a long shot and a tiny-weeny amount of imprecision in direction can easily make a basketball shot from nothing but net to nothing but air. If you shoot with the ball lined up with your ear or shoulder, it becomes much more difficult to get and stay on line. Also, since the distance is far, you most probably have to use more wrist and using more wrist reduces accuracy.

In other words, you must have almost absolute control over your movement when shooting a three pointer to minimize any mechanical errors that may result in a bad basketball shot. When you have control, however, you are sacrificing shooting and release speed. That is perfectly fine when you are practicing your shot. Yet, you can't take your time in a real game. Hence, you need your teammates to buy you time and create space for you.

Passing more and longer, in and out will also create more space for the outside shooter. This is very true when you have a dominant inside player passing it back out to the launchers from beyond the arc.

Getting open is very important because if you need to worry about releasing the basketball shot before the defense gets in the way, your release will often be not smooth. therefore, establishing an inside game can draw attention and free up the space outside the perimeter. Also, using picks smartly can also create more space for you. If you carry that a step further, pushing people into picks without letting the ref notice will create even more space for you. Reggie Miller is a master of it but that's not the end of the story about Reggie!! More on that later.

For all normal basketball shots, you need to have a setting of the ball, a set Point, and a release action that are in line with your shooting eye and the basket. Focus on that alignment throughout the motion will increase accuracy substantially. For a three point shot, this is even more important because as mentioned before, a really small error in your shooting angle can make your shot miss.

Strength of your arm and hand are very important in shooting three points. Remember that you are using your legs as well as your arms to shoot because if you overuse your risk, you will steer the basketball sideways most likely.

If you need to jump over anyone to shoot threes, my suggestion is to pass it off if you can. It is much more difficult to hesitate and then rely excessively on the more unstable power of the upper body to power the shot.

The three points can also be a killer... Always assess the situation before you resort it to the threes. Some teams rely too much on the threes and try to come back from a huge deficit. In doing so, they usually lose even more when each unsuccessful attempt shoves them even further into the abyss of discouragement and hopelessness

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An Aside about Reggie's lethal weapon - the four-point play

Reggie Miller has a combo. As aforementioned, he pushes people into a pick. That will buy him some time to get the ball but not enough time to set his shot. Thus, he practiced the art of fading away from beyond the arc. To make sure that he has enough power to offset the backward momentum as well as propell the ball towards the basketball hoop, he places the basketball slightly sideways for more power, as you can from the picture beside. In fact, when Reggie has the hot hand, he sometimes even let his defense contact his right hand and then release with his left for three points plus harm, a magnificent four-point play.

How to shoot a finger roll

What is a finger roll

A finger roll is an upgrade version of a lay up - it is executed underhand with a strong forward spin without using the backboard.

What does it take to make a good finger roll

Because you are high in the air with your arms fully extended during a finger roll, You must become accustomed to snapping your wrist and fingers hard without any arm movement. This movement is very awkward for many players to begin with because we almost always coordinate arms and wrists movements. Body balance is also very important to a good finger roll because, like the leaner, you are also initiating contact with the defender. Maintaining your balance while executing the finger roll correctly is critical to scoring on a finger roll. Often, the defender may also collide into your shooting arm, Thus you must also have strong arms that can withstand the pressure posed by your defender and maintain a good shooting posture in the air. Furthermore, to set up a situation which allows you to do the finger roll, you need to have a good drive towards the basketball hoop. That opens up the space for you to perform the finger roll

When do I use a finger roll

The very first requirement for finger rolls to be used is that you must have gained considerable speed towards the basketball hoop. Once you have satisfied this first condition and dribbled into the paint, you will have to quickly evaluate the situation. If you see an open lane right in front of you towards the hoop. Do not hesitate take it towards the hoop for a simple lay up or a dunk. If your lane is somewhat blocked by defenders or penetrated by players and your defender gives you at least one step of space to leap forward, you should consider a finger roll.

A finger roll requires you to put your arms over your opponent when you are in a higher position than your defender is. Thus,use it if you have stronger and longer arms than your defender while you are not fast enough to blow by him

Lay up

Lay up gives rise to basketball scoring without halting a burst. Once you get up in the air, there are many ways to maneuver the ball provided you increase your vertical jump to certain level. Yet, before you take off in the air, there are basically two ways to approach the basketball hoop and lay the ball in. Let's take a look at lay up in a nutshell.

• (Reverse everything if you are left-handed)

• Start by dribbling the basketball towards the right side of the basketball hoop with your right hand.

• Then you have two options:

• 1a) As you approach the basket, you may carry the ball and take one and a half steps.

• 2a) Leap towards the basketball hoop with your left foot and bring your right knee up

• Or Alternately, you can

• 1b) Perform a power-hop towards the basket

• 2b) Elevate towards the hoop with both feet

• Protect your position & the ball with your body

• Release the ball lightly on the backboard

Tips on perfecting a basketball lay-up

Doing a basketball lay-up slowly with no defenders is very easy but not so when you are guarded. Here are the tips for scoring in a lay-up under pressure

• Take BIG strides when you are carrying the ball for a lay up

• Glance at the hoop while you are carrying the ball towards the basketball hoop

• If you are driving full speed, convert the horizontal momentum to vertical by jumping higher before release

• Sometimes, changing your pace when taking the steps or power-hopping works well

• Place the upper arm of your non-dominant hand on the side to resist defender's pressure

• When you are about to get up in the air, turn your hip and upper back towards the defender to push yourself away

• Add a slight spin onto the ball to further reduce the horizontal force it carries

Basketball moves derived from the lay-up

Finger Roll: The most widely used lay-up method in basketball nowadays

Three Pointers: The threes seem to be a blessing when it comes to outscoring the opposition, but...

Reverse lay-up: two defenders jumps at you on the near side, go to the other side

Tear Drop: Oh yeah, make the hoop cry and make your defenders cry

Up-and-Under: The move spells out, "I refuse to commit myself."

Defensive free throw rebounding

Your team will be in an advantage of the two closest spots to the hoop. But don't think you will get the rebound just because of that. If the other team has a great rebounder, it would be wise to have two players block the big man out.

Always keep one player on the free throw line to box out the shooter. whereas the shooter cannot leave the free throw line until the ball hits the rim. Having the free throw shooter grab his own rebound is unforgivable.

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Moving actively and productively towards The Ball

When a player moves toward the ball but realize that he has misjudged the play, or you need to change direction rapidly, it is best to plant the foot farthest from the object firmly, placing nearly all your body weight on this plant leg. The leg closest to the ball should have very little weight applied to it. This shift in body weight to the plant leg helps to avoid a load force on the inside leg while twisting on it. Move the arms aggressively to help provide balance. These upper and lower body techniques will improve performance as well as avoid injuries.

Defensive Rebound

I remember one of my coaches at the college basketball training camp made this opening line during a rebounding session: "Missing a defensive rebound gives your team 30 more seconds of misery and mystery." With reasonably strong physique, careful positioning and cooperation with teammates to protect the area below the basketball rim, grabbing a defensive rebound is as easy as grabbing an ice-cream out of a child's hand. Losing one, on the other hand, thwarts your own team's confidence and builds up the stress and frustration level of your teammates, who felt relieved for one second when the basketball did not go in. Hence, securing all defensive rebounds is very important.

Very important! Unlike offensive rebound, which depends on instinct, the offending player's ability and observation, and luck, securing a defensive rebound preparation way before the rebounding moment and great teamwork.

As the defending team, to maximize the probability of your grabbing the defensive rebound, there are basically two main things that you must do: Having maximum coverage of all possible route by which the ball rebounds off the rim and getting all offending players out of possible rebounding position.

When a shot is released, maintain contact with your opponent and immediately face towards the basket. It is important for your to maintain full contact with him so he has no where to maneuver his body to a better position. A properly boxed out opponent is completely helpless in collecting the rebound.

If you notice your man wants to back out and use his quickness to get to a new position, stick your back close to him as long as he is close to the paint. Your teammate is responsible for the other players they are guarding.

If you are playing zone defense, you are responsible for anyone coming through your zone. You should never allow anyone entering your zone. Sometimes you will get two or more people in your zone at any one time and you need to be able to make the decision which one of them is the most likely to get the rebound.

Here is a good tip when you are boxing out on defense. Create an o-rebound zone with your arms and your teammates' arms, a place where you are not going to let anyone in. Be very conscious of anyone going in and out of that zone and be prepared when a shot goes up to block anyone who is in your zone.

If your opponent has possession of the ball. You will be facing him before he shoots the ball. But right after he releases, spread your arms maintain contact with your face and face the basket immediately.

• - Box out your opponent.
• - Look for contact and use your body weight
• - The key to defensive rebounding are positioning and leverage